&#34;yucky&#34; wipe-up-the-mess wand

ABSTRACT

A wipe-up-the-mess wand that enables one to wipe-off or wipe-up all “yucky” materials including paint, oil, grease, chemicals, hazardous materials, etc. and accomplished with hands-off action.  
     Said wipe-up-the-mess wand wherein comprises a gripping ( 12 ) means inside the front end of a main body tube ( 20 ) that effectively holds a folded center section of a household paper towel or a cloth while being used.  
     A flexible front-end piece ( 10 ), comprising a hole through its center, is attached around and flush with the front end of the wand. This flexible piece (triangular) provides resistance to bending so that forceful wiping-up is possible. The wand comprises a built-in plunger ( 22 ) that enables a user to push out the used paper towel or cloth. The whole “yucky” mess is then let drop into a garbage can or pail. All this action is done without getting any “yucky” material on one&#39;s hands. In some cases serious injury could be prevented.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] Not applicable

BACKGROUND

[0002] 1. Field of Invention

[0003] This invention relates to wipe-up-the-mess tools specifically to those tools which include the use of paper towels in its operation and a hands-off-the-mess design.

[0004] 2. Description of Prior Art

[0005] Almost everyone has “yucky” messes to clean up sometimes. A paper towel is handy to grab and wipe-up the mess but somehow, no matter how careful one is the “yucky” gets on one's hands. If it's paint, then one has another problem. One has to wash the hands in paint thinner, soap and water, and sometimes both. A more serious result happens when one wipes up dangerous chemicals or hazardous materials. When this gets on the hands, serious injury can result. One can put on gloves before wiping up these “yucky” messes but one seldom does and even if one does the mess gets on the gloves and then one has to clean off the gloves. Sometimes they are ruined by chemicals or what not. This wand would be very good for wiping up contaminates and infected materials in hospitals.

OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES

[0006] Accordingly, besides the objects and advantages of a “yucky” wipe-up-the-mess wand described above, other objects and advantages are:

[0007] (a) to provide a one-piece wand for wipe-up-the-mess cleaning, using common household paper towels.

[0008] (b) to provide a one-piece wand for wipe-up-the-mess cleaning that comprises a built-in plunger with a closed front end that enables one to push a used “yuckied” towel out of the wand and into the garbage without getting the “yucky” on one's hands.

[0009] (c) to provide a tool that comprises a gripping surface on the inside of the wand's front end. Said gripping surface effectively holds in the stuffed in center of the paper towel while wiping up messes.

[0010] (d) to provide a tool that comprises a flexible piece of material (a triangular-shaped piece works good) with a hole through its center and said flexible piece is attached around and flush with the front end of the wand, a paper towel is draped over the triangular piece when one cleans with the wand allowing one to clean out corners, ridges, etc.

[0011] Further objects and advantages are: to provide a wipe-up-the-mess wand that is simple to use, uses inexpensive household paper towels, and which is inexpensive to manufacture.

DRAWING FIGURES

[0012] There is one drawing.

[0013]FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a “yucky” wipe-up-the-mess wand.

REFERENCE NUMERALS IN DRAWINGS

[0014] 10 flexible end piece 18 ridge 12 inside gripping surface 20 main body tube 14 middle of paper towel stuffed in 22 plunger  here 24 removable snap-on back plate 16 pushing-end

SUMMARY

[0015] In accordance with the present invention, a wipe-up-the-mess wand comprises:

[0016] a main body tube with a gripping surface around the inside of its front end;

[0017] a piece of flexible material with a hole through its center which is attached around and flush with the front end of the wand;

[0018] and a plunger that is built into the wand's main body tube.

Description—FIG. 1—Preferred Embodiment

[0019] A preferred embodiment of a “yucky” wipe-up-the-mess wand is illustrated in FIG. 1 (perspective view). The main body 20 of said wand comprises a tube constructed of a plastic material with a diameter of less than 1¼″ and not over one foot in length. The folded middle of a household paper towel or a cloth 14 is accepted into the front end of the wand.

[0020] A gripping surface 12 that is not over 1½″ in length is located around the inside of the front end of the wand's main body tube.

[0021] A flexible piece 10 of material with a hole through its center is attached around and flush with the front end of the wand.

[0022] A plunger 22 that is of a size to slide within the wand's main body tube extends for the full length of the wand. A pushing end 16 of the plunger is located on the front end of said plunger. A removable snap-on end 24 is located on the back end of the plunger.

[0023] Ridges 18 are located around the inside of the back end of the main body tube and around the outside of the plunger located not over 1½″ from the back end of the plunger.

FIG. 1—Additional Embodiments

[0024] For some clean-up jobs other materials may be preferred instead of paper towels such as cloth for watery messes.

FIG. 1—Alternative Embodiments

[0025] Shapes other than triangular could be used for the flexible material that is located on the front end of the wand's main body tube.

Advantages

[0026] From the description above, an advantage of a “yucky” wipe-up-the-mess wand becomes evident:

[0027] (a) it provides a cleaning tool that allows one to keep one's hands clean or from receiving chemical injuries.

[0028] (b) it saves time and expense in cleaning.

Operation—FIGS. 1

[0029] The manner of using a “yucky” wipe-up-the-mess wand is: one twists and folds the middle of a household paper towel or a cloth 14 and stuffs it down into the front end of said wand. A gripping surface 12, which is similar to the surface of sandpaper, which is located around the inside of the front end of a main tube's body 20 effectively holds the paper towel in position while one wipes up messes.

[0030] A flexible end piece 10 that has a hole through its center is attached around and flush with the front end of the wand's main tube. Said end piece spreads out the paper towel and enables one to clean in corners, ridges, etc. and is constructed of a material that provides resistance to bending, therefore forceful wiping up of messes is possible. To remove a paper towel that has been used, one holds the wand over a garbage can and pushes the used paper towel out with the plunger 22. A ridge 18 around the inside of the back end of the wand's main body tube 20 and ridge around the outside of the plunger restricts the plunger from exiting the wand's main body tube backwards. A removable snap-on end 24 that is attached to the back end of the plunger is larger than the plunger; therefore it restricts the plunger from exiting the wand's main body tube frontwards. The plunger's front end is closed and serves as a pushing end 16 to push out a used paper towel.

Conclusion, Ramifications, and Scope

[0031] Accordingly, the reader will see that a “yucky” wipe-up-the-mess wand would be a very handy tool to wipe up “yucky” messes and other messes also.

[0032] It permits one to clean up messes using paper towels or cloths without getting the “yucky” stuff on one's hands. This could prevent injury to the hands.

[0033] It saves time, energy, and expense in wiping-up-the-mess jobs.

[0034] Although the description above contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the present embodiments of this invention. For example, other tube shapes for the wand's body could be used and instead of a built-in plunger a simple carry-along plunger could be used but this would be less handy.

[0035] Thus the cope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given. 

I claim:
 1. A wipe-up-the-mess wand wherein the improvement comprises: (a) The use of household paper towels or cloth for its wiping up action, (b) A main body tube comprising a flexible piece of material that has a hole through its middle which is attached around and flush with the front end of said main body tube and the main body tube also comprising a gripping surface around the inside of its front end. (c) A built-in plunger comprising a closed front end and removable snap-on back plate that's larger in diameter than said plunger. (d) A pair of restricting ridges, one around the inside of the back end of the main body tube and one around the outside of said plunger not more than 1½″ from the back end of the plunger.
 2. The main body tube of claim 1 wherein comprises a diameter of less than 1¼″ and its front open end accepts the middle, twisted, and folded section of a household paper towel or of a cloth of approximately the same size.
 3. The flexible piece of material with a hole through its center of claim 1 wherein comprises a preferred triangular shape and is constructed of a material that resists bending so that forceful wiping-up of messes is done.
 4. The gripping surface of claim 1 wherein comprises a gripping section of not more than 1½″ in length and located around the inside of the front end of the main body tube and said gripping section's surface is something similar to the surface of sandpaper.
 5. The built-in plunger of claim 1 wherein comprises a tube of a size which readily slides within the main body tube and is of a length that is approximately the same length as the main body tube.
 6. The snap-on back plate of claim 1 wherein comprises a diameter larger than the plunger's diameter. 